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July 30, 2005

Life's Little Instruction Book - My Favorite Entries
Posted by Jess in Day to Day

I was looking over my careworn copy of "Life's Little Instruction Book" that had been dredged out of the basement. Several entries in my copy stand out from all the others in the book, having been marked by a thick, yellow highlighter marker.

The book, by H. Jackson Brown, contains 511 little snippets and advice on how to live a happy and rewarding life.

I have *no* idea when I highlighted these early in high school. I only even vaguely remember doing it. In fact, I definately didn't even remember at ALL until Matt showed me the book and said that he had enjoyed flipping through and seeing the ones I had marked. "Gimmee that!" I had said...

Aside from picking new ones as favorites (now that the house, car, job, and "real world" snippets pertain to me), it was interesting to see which ones I had particularly liked even then. Reading the entire book now, they are all wonderful ideas. Lots of them pertain to day to day activities. The funny thing is, a lot of them didn't mean anything to me being a kid. In fact, all the ones I'd highlighted are pretty idealistic, when you look at them.

But I'd probably pick the same ones today anyway!

So without further ado, here's the ones I highlighted when I was a kid:

1. Compliment three people every day.

16. Be the first to say hello.

37. Make new friends, but cherish the old ones.

39. Take lots of snapshots.

94. Make it a habit to do nice things for people who'll never find out.

107. Smile a lot. It costs nothing and is beyond price.

157. Take time to smell the roses.

188. Become the most positive and enthusiastic person you know.

197. Don't forget, a person's greatest emotional need is to feel appreciated.

252. Take good care of those you love.

327. When you arrive at your job in the morning, let the first thing you say brighten everyone's day.

456. Send your loved one flowers. Think of a reason later.

488. Make someone's day by paying the toll for the person in the car behind you.

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